Sunday, April 20, 2025

Od Designs “TrackStand” will see action at the Rio Olympics

-

HomeOtherProduct ReviewsOd Designs "TrackStand" will see action at the Rio Olympics

Earlier this year, Od Designs’ Steve Marsden was approached by Sandy Gilchrist, the Specialized Team mechanic and Ireland Track Team coach, to see if he could develop a better bike stand than was already commercially available. After discussing his requirements, Steve set-to and in short time had the basis of what Od Designs have named the “TrackStand“.

Sandy loved the first prototype Steve showed him and asked if Od Designs could produce another ten in time for the Irish team’s attendance at the World Tack Championships to be held at the new French national velodrome in south-west Paris.

Od Designs Trackstand
The TrackStand in use at the Track World Championships in the Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Photo©Od Designs

The stands worked perfectly and the Canadian Team mechanic at the championships liked them so much he managed to prise six of them from Sandy’s grasp once the racing had finished!

Since then, Steve has refined the basic design of the TrackStand to make manufacture simpler and to make nesting large numbers easier – essential for teams where space in transport vehicles is at a premium.

In September, Steve presented Sandy with ten pre-production versions and, as before, he was delighted with them – so much so that he took them to Chicago for the World Triathlon Championships and then on to Richmond, Virginia for the World Road Championships.

Od Designs TrackStand
Scotsman Sandy, in Irish colours in the team pits. Photo©Od Designs

Trips to Italy and France with the stands followed, for the Enduro World Series at Finale Ligure and Roc d’Azur in Frejus.

Od Designs Trackstand
The TrackStand in use at the Triathlon World Championship, Chicago. Photo©Od Designs

Sandy also used them at Grenchen for the European Track Championships, where the Russian Team showed a great deal of interest in them and in Cali, Colombia for the Track World Cup, where the Dutch Team asked how much they were likely to cost.

The cherry on Od Designs’ cake is that Sandy will be using the TrackStands when working for the Irish Track, Road and MTB Cross Country Teams at the Rio Olympics this year, and to mark their  confidence in the TrackStand Od Designs showed it at The Cycle Show in London, prior to the recently launched Kickstarter campaign.

About the TrackStand

The TrackStand is made to be lightweight, compact and sturdy and has the ability to be connected to other TrackStands to make access to and presentation of the bikes easier, with the added benefit that the more TrackStands connected the more stable the whole structure becomes.

The TrackStand supports the bike by the chain and seat stays on either side of the bike and is fully adjustable in order to accommodate a large range of frame types, from the lightest of track bikes to the heaviest of downhill MTBs.

Od Designs TrackStand
The TrackStand is perfect for minor maintenance and adjustments. Photo©Martin Williamson

We’ve been using a prototype of the TrackStand for a while in the VeloVeritas garage, and have found it a useful piece of kit; once it’s setup to hold the bike – which takes literally just a minute – it’s a doddle to pop the bike on and off the stand, making simple maintenance tasks like chain lubing, brake and gear adjustments quick and easy, with the bike being held upright and very stable.

Od Designs TrackStand
The frame-friendly hooks adjust with the turn of a screwdriver. Photo©Martin Williamson
Od Designs TrackStand
The TrackStand is well thought-out with the folding smaller arms providing good stability. Photo©Martin Williamson

When all the other bike hooks in the garage are in use by the rest of the ‘fleet’, it’s a nice way of storing the bike too, rather than leaving it leaning against the wall.

We’ve lived with similar stands before, some were of simpler design with detachable or folding arms, but the TrackStand folds down to a more compact unit than the different stands we’ve used before, so it’s easy to find a space for it in a packed car boot – very useful when travelling and needing to set up the bike before a race.

Od Designs TrackStand
Od Designs TrackStand folds down to a small profile. Photo©Martin Williamson

Od Designs intend to retail the TrackStand at £33.00 for individual units and in discounted sets of six and ten for clubs or teams. For teams the sets will feature their own bespoke tote bag.

Find out more about the TrackStand and other Od Designs products on their website,
and check out their Kickstarter campaign for the chance to grab a limited edition model.

Martin Williamson
Martin Williamson
Martin is our Editor and web site Designer/Manager and concentrates on photography. He's been involved in cycle racing for over four decades and raced for much of that time, having a varied career which included time trials, road and track racing, and triathlons. Martin has been the Scottish 25 Mile TT and 100 Mile TT Champion, the British Points Race League Champion on the track, and he won a few time trials in his day, particularly hilly ones like the Tour de Trossachs and the Meldons MTT.

Summary

A straightforward but very effective aluminium bike stand. Quick and easy to adjust for your bike and folds away neatly for storage or transportation. Perfect for presentation, a quick chain lube or other simple maintenance tasks.
Build Quality
Price
Adjustability

Related Articles

Lucho Herrera’s Pinarello

To appreciate how big a deal it was for Luis Alberto (Lucho) Herrera to win the 1987 Vuelta, it's best to read the passage in Lucy Fallon and Adrian Bell's book, 'Viva la Vuelta' where they talk about the closing stage into Madrid.

Olympic Champion, Samuel Sanchez’s Orbea Orca

When you talk about Orbea bicycles and the Euskaltel team, it’s about more than light alloy and carbon; it’s about people, national identity, unity and pride. We look at Samuel Sanchez's Orbea Orca now. On the Tour, many of the teams will have the team vehicles parked ‘wagon train’ style or have ‘crime scene’ tapes to keep the civilians at bay. Not at Euskaltel.

Riccardo Riccò debuts the new Scott Plasma2 at the Giro

The big manufacturers always wheel out their new weaponry at the Grand Tours to catch all those eager lenses - and here's the latest TT machine from Scott, the "Plasma2"... Riccardo Riccò, the young team leader for Saunier Duval - Scott and winner of Stage 1 on Sunday, used the new bike in the opening Team Time Trial last Saturday.

KAPZ custom headset caps

I spotted the advert for KAPZ custom headset caps in the magazine, and out of curiosity switched from Adobe Lightroom to Chrome browser to have a look at their website.

At Random

Three Days of De Panne 2004

Continuing our look back at Classic, Belgian RockHardMan, Enthusiast-tastic races, to get you into the mood for the upcoming Continental Classics, we bring you the story of our trip to the 2004 edition of "De Panne", a stage race based around the province of West Flanders. Enjoy!

La Vuelta 2019 – Stage 3; Ibi > Alicante, Sam Bennett Storms In

Stage Three heads back into the hills; Ibi to Alicante over 188 kilometres, not as tough as Stage Two but with two third cat. climbs, the Puertos de Biar and Tibo – due to the geography of the stage we chose the latter.

Dare We Guess?

Dare We Guess? Ok. So last night was on paper the stage that everyone expected-a breakaway that was difficult to get into, but stayed away once established. And yet it was hardly a predictable result, with a shake-up of the GC, another win to Garmin and Thor, and a request from the Schlecks that every stage please be an uphill time trial, or at worst an uphill two man teams time trial.

Belgian Opening Weekend Ramblings

It's the 'Belgian Opening Weekend'; Het Volk used to be a cult race, the teams would line up in the street just up from the Kuipke velodrome. The first team to set up would be the late Frans Assez’s Flanders squad — no flash bus or trucks, just a ‘Luton’ style van...
A straightforward but very effective aluminium bike stand. Quick and easy to adjust for your bike and folds away neatly for storage or transportation. Perfect for presentation, a quick chain lube or other simple maintenance tasks.Od Designs "TrackStand" will see action at the Rio Olympics